O.C. Man Pleads Not Guilty to Passport Fraud in Attempt to Join Terrorists in the Mideast

Originally posted at 11:01 a.m. July 21, 2014. Edited with new details.

A man detained at John Wayne Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey -- allegedly with a fraudulent passport in an effort to join Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, rebels -- pleaded not guilty today to federal charges.

Adam Dandach, 20, of Orange, remains in custody without bail and is due back in federal court in Santa Ana on Aug. 25.

Dandach's attorney, Cuauhtemoc Ortega of the Federal Public Defender's Office, declined comment after the hearing.

Dandach was indicted Wednesday on charges of making a false statement on a passport application and use of a passport obtained through a false statement.

The FBI detained and questioned Dandach July 2 at John Wayne Airport as he was about to board a Delta Airlines flight, according to Thom Mrozek, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman. Dandach was arrested at his residence in Orange the following day, Mrozek said.

According to federal court papers that ordered his detention without bail, he told investigators that "he was traveling to Syria for the purpose of pledging his alliance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, a known terrorist organization, that he would assist ISIS with anything that ISIS asked him to do, and that he believed the killings of U.S. soldiers are justified killings."

Dandach had applied for an expedited replacement passport in June, stating in the application that he had accidentally thrown the original in the trash while cleaning.

Authorities said his mother actually hid the original passport in a closet to stop him from flying to the Middle East in December.

The maximum punishment for passport fraud would be five years in federal prison, according to Mrozek, who said further charges may be filed.

"I'm going to characterize this as an ongoing investigation," he said in explaining why he could not get into details alleged about ISIS in the detention order.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge James Selna.

--City News Service